Today, Chicago City Council walked back their promise to thousands of tipped workers in a vote to pause the subminimum wage phase-out. This decision undermines the wage increases that were negotiated and passed three years ago, leaving families in a lurch with less than four months until their next scheduled raise.

Today’s vote sets a dangerous precedent that when labor groups come to the table and make good-faith compromises with business groups—including a gradual phase-out plan—corporate interests will take advantage and renege on their word. At a time when we are all feeling the pressures of rising costs via tariffs and inflation, the restaurant industry wants workers & patrons to subsidize their costs. 

Businesses were already considered in the original passage of the 2023 One Fair Wage Ordinance. The five year phase-out schedule, which incrementally brings tipped workers up to parity, gave businesses plenty of time to adapt. Despite claims from the Illinois Restaurant Association, Chicago’s restaurant industry is growing, with hundreds of new licenses issued over the past two years.

Tipped workers are overwhelmingly Black, immigrants, and women earning less than $35,000 a year on average. These are heads of households, caregivers, taxpayers, hardworking people who are already barely making ends meet. The wages that City Council took away today could be the difference needed to put food on the table, make rent, or pay off other daily expenses. 

Workers deserve support not stagnation. Tipped work is unstable, unpredictable income. Black-owned and minority-owned businesses deserve real support to thrive, not policies that pit them against workers.

Every Alderman who voted to rollback One Fair Wage broke their promise when workers needed it the most, and that will not be soon forgotten. 

We will continue to use our voice to defend workers from attacks chipping away our hard-fought protections and wages.